While Georgia prohibits adults who are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle from a specific type of cellphone use, texting, many states have enacted bans on cellphone use altogether while driving. In large part, the reason that lawmakers in Georgia and other states enacted these bans is the troubling correlation between cellphone use while driving and traffic accidents resulting in death or injuries, as expounded by various statistics and studies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving can be a mortal mistake. Reportedly, distracted drivers caused 18 percent of deadly traffic accidents throughout the country in 2010. In this way, distracted driving was responsible for the deaths of 3,092 people in total. In that same year, 2010, crashes attributed to distracted driving caused 416,000 people to suffer injuries, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports. A Pew survey indicates that four out of every 10…

A fatal car accident that occurred in DeKalb County on the night of Aug. 28 resulted in the death of a 51-year-old man. The man was reportedly driving a pickup truck when he collided head-on with an 18-wheeler, and a sedan that was behind the 18-wheeler also became involved in the crash. The driver of the pickup truck died at the scene. The semi-truck driver and the sedan driver were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Police stated that the pickup truck was traveling the wrong way at the time of the accident. Authorities were investigating the reason behind this wrong-way driving at the time of the report. In a car accident such as this one, the driver who was performing the illegal act is considered to be at fault. In this case, the pickup truck driver demonstrated negligence by illegally traveling in the wrong direction on the road. The…

Police released details from a two-vehicle accident that took place in Glennville and left three people, including a local soldier who was based at Fort Stewart, dead. The Georgia State Patrol said the crash occurred around 12:20 a.m. on Aug. 7 when one of the vehicles crossed the center line and collided head on with the other vehicle. The soldier, who was the driver of the vehicle that was hit, was killed in the accident. The 33-year-old driver and a 20-year-old passenger in the vehicle that allegedly caused the collision were also killed. A third passenger in the same vehicle was taken by helicopter to a local hospital for treatment. Police investigators took a blood-alcohol sample from the driver who is believed to have triggered the collision. The family members of someone who was killed in a car accidentcaused by another driver's reckless or negligent actions may wish to file a…

Motorists in Georgia may be surprised to learn that General Motors was warned about possible defects approximately seven years before a recall occurred in 2014. GM was contacted by an investigator employed by Vanguard Car Rental USA about a motorist in a Chevrolet Cobalt who lost control of the vehicle in September 2006. The vehicle drifted across the roadway onto a gravel median and overturned. The driver was wearing a seat belt but still died in the collision. The airbags allegedly failed to deploy during the accident. The claims adjuster for Vanguard contacting GM acknowledged that the cause of the crash was unknown but noted that the details of the crash warranted the automaker opening a claim and inspecting the model for potential defects. Bloomberg recovered these documents with a Freedom of Information Act request. Warranty records, call transcripts and police reports revealed that Enterprise also pressed GM about potentially…

Two people were killed and two others were injured in a motor vehicle accident that occurred in Georgia, near the Tennessee border, on the morning of July 11. Investigators say a Ford Mustang headed west on Interstate 24 drove into the median, slid sideways, and collided with a vehicle in the eastbound lanes. The impact caused the Mustang to strike two other vehicles, one of which flipped. While speaking with local media, a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol said he suspected the crash took place at 'interstate speeds." All four vehicles involved in the wreck contained a single occupant. Investigators are still uncertain what caused the driver of the Mustang, a woman from Wisconsin, to drive across the median. She reportedly had a cellphone in her hand as her body was extricated from the Mustang. Several motorists stopped got out of their vehicles to call 911 or offer assistance…

A June 26 car accident in Jefferson County claimed the lives of three people, according to authorities. The fatal accident occurred on Georgia Highway 1 south of Wrens, and Georgia State Patrol troopers arrived at the scene just after 2:45 p.m., reportedly. According to authorities, a 44-year-old man was driving a U-Haul truck on the highway when he attempted to pass other motorists and struck the front end of a silver Honda. Subsequent to that collision, the U-Haul driver sideswiped another vehicle before colliding head-on with a tan BMW. Authorities reported that the 44-year-old man died from injuries he suffered during the incident. Moreover, two other drivers involved in the crash, a 49-year-old woman and a 35-year-old woman, died as a result of the incident. If a preponderance of evidence from this case were to indicate that the fatal accident was caused by a driver's actionable behavior, then the at-fault…

A 32-year-old woman with an outstanding vehicular homicide warrant in another county is believed to have caused a seven-car crash on Georgia Highway 316 in Lawrenceville on May 25, 2014. She was treated at a local hospital, released to authorities, and taken to the Gwinnett County jail, where she awaited transfer to DeKalb County authorities. The car accident occurred at about 3:20 p.m. below the Suwanwee Road Bridge. Police related that witnesses told them the woman was driving in the emergency lane. One vehicle flipped several times as a result of the impact. Two people in another car required removal from their vehicle. Injuries to four people required them to be transported to Gwinnett Medical Center where a 39-year-old female from Lawrenceville died. One remained hospitalized. Two were treated and released. The 32-year-old driver had a duty to drive her vehicle in a legal lane of traffic. She also had a…

Macon drivers may know already of the various tips and tricks that safe drivers can use to avoid accidents or bad situations. Unfortunately, car wrecks can be difficult to avoid in some cases, no matter how safe a person's driving practices are. Some roads are inherently more dangerous than others due to the conditions on or around them. As the years progress, many people are beginning to view Blue Jay Road as one of these dangerous roads. One intersection alone has seen 12 accidents happen another has had at least 5. Recently, 3 accidents have occurred over a 2 week period. In total, 25 crashes have happened on the road over the last 3 years, leading many people to try figuring out what about it is causing so many accidents. Some potential reasons include the fact that the road is only 2 lanes and it doesn't have very wide shoulders, but…

There are plenty of drivers in Macon who may prioritize safe driving no matter what the situation might be. However, car wrecks can happen to any driver at any time with little or no warning, time to prepare, or immediately detectable reason. In a case that Georgia patrol officers are still investigating, one man has left two others dead and one injured in a car accident on the freeway, but an actual cause for the accident itself has yet to be determined. The man who was driving the vehicle that struck the victims was taken to Appling Hospital for a precautionary check-up to ensure that no damage had been sustained. However, the car that he hit lost 2 people, ages 23 and 24. In addition, one woman in the car needed to be flown to a medical center for emergency attention. According to police reports, the accident occurred shortly before midnight…

As spring blooms in Georgia, motorists may note an increase in the amount of highway construction. The projects are designed to improve the highways, adding lanes, improving or replacing antiquated bridges, repaving road surfaces and generally making the driving experience more safe and pleasant. But before that happens, road construction and work zones mean lane changes, detours, slower speed limits, flagmen and delays. This can irritate many motorists, tempting them to drive too fast and tailgate, as their frustration builds. They may see the signs urging them to give construction workers a "brake," and higher fines for violations in a work zone. They may assume this means workers are at greater risk to dying in a car accident in a work zone. However, they would be dead wrong. In fact, if they speed in a work zone, they may simply be dead. A recent study shows that four out of five fatalities…